


Unwanted Reflections

by zeldadestry



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: 100_women, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-05
Updated: 2006-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-04 15:31:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/395388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeldadestry/pseuds/zeldadestry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She does not want to move away from the Foe-Glass, which continues to display the visitor standing still at the gate, hands in his pockets and eyes fixed on their home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unwanted Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> prompt 005, ‘Outsides’, 100_women Fanfic Challenge  
> AU, Lily's married to Sirius instead of James  
> This was written before the release of book 7, so doesn't take its information on Regulus into account.

The trouble with a Foe-Glass is that one’s never quite sure whose definition of an enemy it’s using. At the Black’s home, the Glass hangs by the front door, and the only time Petunia came to visit, Lily saw her own sister’s face reflected. She doesn’t consider her sister dangerous, but obviously there’s treachery lurking in Petunia, or she wouldn’t appear. Of course, so far, every single person who has come to their front door has been reflected, and Lily’s beginning to wonder if the damn thing’s defective. Yes, better to believe that the magic’s gone all wonky, than to face the thoroughly depressing likelihood that there is some measure of deceit in everyone, and right now even their nearest and dearest can not be trusted.

The birds have just begun their morning song and Lily’s on her way to the kitchen to make tea. She’s been having trouble sleeping since they found out about the baby, and she just wants tea and a biscuit and to watch the sun rise. As she passes the front door, she looks at the Foe-Glass reflexively. Every part of her suddenly stills, except for her hammering heart. There’s someone near their gate, a silhouette tall as Sirius, but slimmer, and instinct tells her who it is. She raises her hand towards the bedroom, and her wand rockets through the house and into her waiting grasp. She woke Sirius when she got out of bed, and hopefully he has not fallen back asleep so deeply that her voice will not be able to rouse him. She does not want to move away from the Foe-Glass, which continues to display the visitor standing still at the gate, hands in his pockets and eyes fixed on their home. She does not want him to take them by surprise. “Sirius,” she says, loudly, but not a shout, trying to be as surreptitious as possible. “Sirius!”

“What?” he croaks, after a moment.

“Your brother is standing outside our house.”

He rushes to her side, wand thrust forward, and pushes her behind him as he faces the Foe-Glass. “Damn it. What the hell is he doing?”

She has to stand on tiptoe on the front step of their staircase to be able to see over Sirius’s shoulder. “You know,” she says, after a careful consideration of the shimmering image, “it almost looks like he’s waiting to be asked in.”

Sirius looks round at her like she’s gone mad. “Death Eaters don’t stop for an invitation, my dear.”

“Exactly. If he were here to hurt us, he wouldn’t make himself such an obvious target. Look at him. He’s just standing there.”

“Shall I kill him?” he says, and he’s joking, but they both know it could come to that.

“If you have to, I suppose. See what he wants, first.”

“You’re joking.”

“No. Sirius, he’s your brother. You shouldn’t kill him without a really good reason.”

He smirks, and she’s glad of it. She can be brave, because he is. He can take care of himself, he can keep her safe. “Consider this, sweets: killing him would likely kill my mother, as well. One good curse, two dead, twice the celebration, see?”

“Have I ever mentioned that your frequent homicidal urges towards your family are distressing?”

“Are you insinuating that I am not utterly, flawlessly charming?”

“You have charm enough,” she says, wrapping her arms around him. “The sooner we sort this out, the sooner I can lure you back to bed.”

“Right. Here I go.”

“Wait! I’m coming with you.”

“Like hell.”

“I’m just as good as you in a duel, and you know it. It’s safer if we go together.” She knows what he’s going to say next, so she pre-empts him. “Don’t you dare mention the baby.” Horrible as it might sound, the baby, although it’s alive inside her, still feels like a far off possibility. Sirius is already here, already hers, and the intensity of her concern for the baby is nothing compared to the fear of losing him.

Sirius touches the door with his hand, and then his wand, and it begins the long whirring process of unlocking. Lily keeps her eyes fixed on the Foe-Glass, but Regulus never moves. When the door has finished the sequence, Sirius opens it a sliver and shouts, “Send me your wand.” In the Glass, Lily watches as Regulus takes his wand from his pocket and lets it go into the air, where it floats through the morning mist and into Sirius’s hand. Sirius steps back from the door, closes it again and looks down at the wand.

“Is it his?”

“Yeah, it’s his. He could have another one on him, but it won’t be as powerful.” Their eyes meet. “Ready?” he says. She nods and he nods back and opens the door. Side by side they stand together at their doorstep. Side by side, they move down the cobblestone path, both their wands trained on their visitor.

From the moment they stepped outside, Regulus has kept his arms in front of him, palms up, as though he is a soldier about to surrender. As they move closer to him, Lily can see the troubling details that weren’t visible in the murky Foe-Glass. There is a new scar, red and raised, across his cheek. There are bruises under his eyes. He has lost so much weight that it shows in his face, in the hollows under his cheekbones. He looks ill, or as if he is recovering from a long illness. As he moves forward to lean against the gate, Lily notices that his left leg drags. “Is it true?” he says, when they stop, a good ten feet from him. Lily is disturbed by how similar his voice is to her husband’s. In the dark, she doubts that she could tell them apart.

“Is what true?” Sirius says.

Slowly, Regulus nods his head at Lily, his eyes fixed on her belly. Without thinking, she hunches her body forward in a movement of protection, she covers her womb with her hands. Regulus’s face falls. “It is true,” he says. After a moment, he turns his attention back to his brother. “I need to talk with you,” he says. “I have information that could help you. No, not could, will. I have information, the information that you need. I have the information Dumbledore’s been looking for.”

“Do you think we’re fucking idiots? Why in hell would we trust you?”

“Because I’m going to be an Uncle,” Regulus says, and he gives Lily a slight bow, manners impeccable and pretentious. He is, like every man of his house before him (Sirius happily excepted, of course), sinister, despite his claim to be here in kindness. “May I come in?” he asks, gesturing to the gate, because he must recognize the magic that will injure anyone who enters their garden, their home, without explicit permission.

“Absolutely not,” Sirius barks.

Lily thinks she sees Regulus flinch at the rebuff, and though she knows how thoroughly he deserves their unwelcome reception, she says, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay outside.”

“Of course,” he says, bowing his head to her again, “I understand. It was wrong of me to presume. I beg your forgiveness.”

“That’s enough,” Sirius growls.

Again, Lily observes how Regulus withers beneath his brother’s disdain. She can see in the marks on his body, in his cowed manner, that he has suffered and been changed by it. But she can not pity him for his pain, not if it is what has brought him back to his brother’s side, to their side, the just side.  



End file.
